When Steve stopped talking, Todd waited for more. When there was nothing else, he barked into the phone. “So, where in New Orleans Square? Do you expect me to just wander around the whole area looking for them?”
Steve hesitated before he answered. He could just tell Todd that they went into some shop or other. But, he didn’t want to lose Lori, and, when Todd found out he had lied, that could be the end result. “Court of Angels,” was his resigned reply.
So, that’s what the clue meant. Todd briefly wondered why he hadn’t been able to figure it out for himself. “Thanks.” Todd snapped the phone shut just as Steve tried to get his promise again to destroy the pictures. Already on the move, Todd headed up Main Street, a one-day passport in somebody else’s name tucked into his shirt pocket.
He just hoped his disguise of a black wig and mustache would be enough to get him close enough to discover the secret the Court of Angels held.
Catie’s nerves were somewhat calmed by the excitement of being backstage at Disneyland in some of the areas where guests are not allowed. Peter, a frequent visitor with both his dad and Wolf, was used to the sights, but she looked around in wide-eyed wonder. The horse-drawn trolley had just clomped past her on its way to duty on Main Street. Wolf told her how the horse was brought in from the Circle D ranch behind Fantasyland, showed her where the trolley was kept and where the horse would come out on Main Street. Right next to the Fire Station were two huge, brightly painted gates that would swing out. She watched as the huge brown Belgian horse slowly passed them, unconcerned by all the trucks and delivery vans going in all directions on the wide path.
“This is so cool!” she gushed to Peter, touching him on his arm. “Did you see where they park the Omnibus?”
“What?” Peter, focused on the upcoming search in New Orleans Square, hadn’t paid any attention to what went on around him.
“This!” Her wide gesture took in all the activity behind the scenes. “What’s that place?” After the Monorail went by overhead on their right, she pointed at a huge green camouflaged building.
“Indy.” Wolf gave her a brief answer while his eyes busily scanned for any sign of Todd Raven. Even though the man was banned from Disneyland, Wolf knew he could still get in and have access to any part of the Park. Hoping their plan to act fast and throw him off the scent would be successful, there was still a possibility of danger to the kids. “Go in through there,” he pointed. “This is where we need to be.”
It further delighted Catie that they could be on a busy back street with a Main Street trolley car and costumed cast members one minute and then, going through one corridor, would emerge in the quaint streets of New Orleans Square. “This is so cool!” she repeated. “Can we go back that way again on the way out?”
“We’ll see.” Wolf turned his attention to Peter. “You have the keys?”
Peter, now that the moment was upon him, started to get nervous. He bit his lip and nodded without saying anything.
“You have to take it from here, Peter. I can’t help you. You have to find what you find.”
At Catie’s look of worried astonishment that he was actually leaving them, he put a calming hand on her shoulder. “I’ll be here in the shadows watching. You’ll be fine,” he promised. “I think we have the element of surprise on our side. Todd shouldn’t expect us to move so quickly and you both should be in school. Hopefully you can discover the secret today. Your mom is just around the corner working Pirates again, Catie.” He threw out everything he could think of to reassure her. “It’s just a few steps away if you need to go there. Okay?”
“You won’t leave us?” Looking up at Wolf with her big, brown eyes, her voice was a mere whisper.
Squatting down, Wolf brought his face to her level. “I’ll be here, watching. I won’t let him hurt you or Peter.”
She looked deeply into his eyes and gave a short nod.
Now turning to face Peter, Wolf gave him the go-ahead. “You’re on. You know what to do.”
“Not really,” Peter admitted with a crooked smile. “But, we’ll figure it out.”
“I’ll see you later, then.” Wolf got to his feet and quickly melted into the shadows.
Peter turned to his companion. “Well, you heard him. We’re on, Catie. Let’s try and figure out where the keys go. You remember what they look like, right?”
With Wolf’s assurance and Peter’s eagerness, Catie felt her fears begin to fall away. The excitement of the hunt filled her and she looked around the beautiful, quiet courtyard. “Yes, but I don’t see any keyholes, though.”
“Well, we’ll just have to look everywhere. You go up the stairs and I’ll look under them. Oh, and let me know if you spot anything that looks like a W. E. D.”
Catie hesitated at the base of the blue staircase and looked up the wide, sweeping steps. “But, Peter, this area up here is for cast members only.” From their research they had discovered that the stairs led to at least three different destinations and all of them were just for the cast members.
“Yeah, I know. One of the doors goes to a storage room for Club 33 and another one goes to the assistant manager’s office. I think that’s behind those burgundy shutters. I wouldn’t knock on that door, if I were you.” He tried to make a joke out of it, but immediately saw the stricken look that came over her face. “Catie, it’s okay to walk up the stairs. We aren’t going in anywhere unless we see that the keys fit. Oh, and if you keep going, there are stairs that, I think, take you down into the Pirates building—which I would love to check out,” he added more to himself.
She slowly started up the stairs, the dread of getting caught all over her face. “What was it again you said to look for? Wed what?”
Peter was already examining the paned doorway that led into one of the shops, running his hand over the smooth painted woodwork. “Hmmm? No, the initials W, E, and D. That’s what I found at the Studio. I don’t know if it’d be the same here, though. It’s just something else we have to keep in mind.”
Nodding, the girl continued upward, stopping where the stairway swept to the right to check out the statue that Walt had found in Paris. Hesitant to touch it, she stepped closer and looked into the shadowy curve of the wall behind it. Pushing aside some of the greenery, she didn’t see any keyholes or any initials.
Above her location were balconies that were accessible only from the inside, but there were no obvious places for keys there, either. Continuing, her heart started to pound as she approached the landing at the top. Right in the middle of the landing was a standing oval sign that read Cast Members Only Please. She was about to call down to Peter, but she couldn’t see him. Once past the warning sign, she turned away from the door on the left and tiptoed down the landing, examining all woodwork and doorways as she continued.
After checking out the keyhole in the burgundy door where Todd had first held him, Peter quickly moved to a different part of the courtyard. He was out of Catie’s sight because he was directly beneath her, under the staircase. He had found a wooden door in the wall that had a simple round handle and a spring to keep it closed, but it was obvious his keys wouldn’t fit the small brass lock.
Giving an uninterested, “Hmph,” he stood back and looked around the small courtyard, hands on his hips. There were two entries into the Court of Angels from New Orleans Square. The largest, most often used corridor was the one that faced Orleans Street. The second entrance was currently more or less blocked by an artist doing chalk portraits of guests. There were numerous easels set up with canvases that displayed her finished work. The easels were arranged in a way that limited the view into the courtyard. Peter was glad to see that. One less place for interruption should they find something.
There were also two shops that had rear exits into the courtyard. The woodwork of the exit doors were painted the same blue as the staircase and the balconies. However, these doors were currently locked because it wasn’t busy enough in the Park to warrant two entrances and exits. Peter didn’t ev
en bother to look at the doors of the other shop across from him. Any key that fit those doors would just allow entrance into the shop and he couldn’t see that as being the answer for which they were searching.
Likewise unimportant to Peter were the white wrought iron benches placed here and there around the shady nook. He could see they were easily moveable and would have no hidden secrets. Glancing up the staircase to see how his partner fared, he saw Catie was currently examining something on the wall. Knowing she would call him if it was important, he quickly scanned the area she had already covered.
The curved nook with the statue caught his eye with its two hanging gas lanterns that gave it a lovely flickering effect at night. He would ask Catie later if she had gone over every inch of the base.
There was a plaque on the wall, but, from his research, he knew it was added to the wall many years after Walt’s time. It was a special tribute to a long-time cast member who had suddenly died. Listing her name, it also said Musique des Anges—music of angels—and offered music lessons and vocal instructions. This was a fitting acknowledgement as she had sung in a choir. The plaque was a nice alternative to the glass windows on Main Street that were awarded to special people who had contributed to Disneyland.
At the sudden sound of a door opening upstairs, Peter quickly threw himself onto the seat of the closest bench and pretended to be fascinated by whatever was in the shop window next to him. The oblivious cast member who had been prepping inside Club 33 trotted down the stairs, apparently not having seen Catie. Peter waited until the server had vanished around the corner of Royal Street and then smiled to himself when he heard Catie let out a huge sigh of relief.
Peter now turned his attention to the beautiful tan and cream marble backdrop of the fountain. Built into the wall under the staircase, it had a solid marble bench that curved around the half-moon shaped pool into which the clear blue water splashed. Delicate green ferns filled rounded urns on each end of the bench. In the center of the diamond-shaped stonework that formed the backsplash, a small nozzle protruded, its tip shaped like the petals of a tulip as the water trickled into the waiting pool. When Peter leaned in for a closer look, his eyes widened. There, concealed in the layers of the design, were the lightly carved initials W.E.D. Excited, he reached out a tentative finger to touch the letters, but pulled his hand back. In case this was it, Catie should be here for whatever might happen.
Standing back, he located her on the opposite side of the long walkway. By the set of her shoulders, he could tell she was discouraged by not finding anything yet. Softly whistling, he got her attention and motioned for her to come down. Visibly relieved by his summon, she hurried back to the curving staircase.
“Did you find something?” She looked hopeful when she reached his side. “I haven’t found anything but dust.” Her dirt-covered fingertips were held up to prove her point.
Before Peter could answer, two guests slowly wandered into the court. Catie and Peter, trying not to look guilty, dropped onto the nearest bench. Out of the corners of their eyes they saw the couple take pictures of each other as they posed on the stairs. Seeing the two kids, the woman approached and, smiling, held out her camera to the oldest, Peter. “Would you mind taking a picture of the both of us, please? It’s our anniversary! Just push that button.”
“Uh, sure.” Peter slowly got to his feet as she happily trotted back to her husband and they climbed up three stairs together. Aiming the small digital camera, he centered them in the frame. After snapping the picture, he handed it back to the appreciative woman. “You might want to check it first before you go. I’m not very good with a camera.”
The woman smiled at the boy and hit a couple of buttons. “Thanks! It’s perfect.” She held it out for Peter to see, but could quickly tell he wasn’t really interested. “Thanks again.” With a grin, she slid her arm through her husband’s and they wandered back out into New Orleans Square.
Once they were out of sight, Catie jumped up from the bench and came over to Peter. “What did you find? What did you find?”
“Here, sit on the bench in case anyone comes in again.” He indicated one side of the marble seat under the fountain. He sat on the other side and pointed. “What do you see here?”
Catie had to lean in really close to see the initials. “Gosh, is that what you meant? What does it mean? You never told me.”
“It’s Walt’s initials, but it was also one of his companies.” Peter continued to stare at the letters that Walt probably carved out himself.
“Gosh, how do you remember so much?” she asked in awe. “I can’t remember half of the stuff we researched.”
Her companion could only shrug. “My dad’s the same way. We can remember almost everything we read. Comes in handy in school,” he added with a charming smile.
“So what do we do now? I don’t see any keyhole.”
“Yeah, I know. I didn’t see one, either.” Peter sighed and tried to peer into the shadowy corners beyond the courtyard. “Wish Wolf would tell us. Maybe we should feel around this diamond shape to see if there’s a hidden hole or something.”
“You do it.” Anxious again, she hung back. “I’ll…I’ll keep watch.”
“Okay. Then you should probably stand in front of me and block the view. I don’t want anyone to think I’m messing with the fountain.”
Catie didn’t like it that she wouldn’t be able to see what he was doing, but did as he asked. Within seconds she could hear a startled gasp from Peter and the grating noise of stone rubbing against stone. Whirling around, she could see the entire inner portion of the arched marble stonework pull backward into the wall. The water from the fountain, however, still shot outward, reaching farther and farther as it continued to land in the middle of the small pool. When a dark entrance was fully revealed, the movement of the wall stopped, apparently waiting.
“What did you do?” Eyes wide, she stared at the hole. He had to have broken something.
“That’s it! We found the secret door, Catie.” Peter grabbed the new backpack off his shoulders and dug around in it for a flashlight. “Come on, before it closes.”
“I don’t want to go in there.”
“We have to, Catie. This has to be it. Come on, we have to hurry before anyone sees us.”
Clicking on his flashlight, Peter stepped over the pool of water and crawled through the narrow entrance. Swallowing, Catie took one last, desperate look around hoping to see Wolf on his way to join them. But, there was no one. Fighting back her fears, she had no choice but to follow the sliver of light that would be Peter.
As soon as she had crawled through the opening, even though he had expected it, both Peter and Catie were startled when the entry door slid shut behind them. Except for the one small beam of light, they were in total, musty darkness.
“They did it!” Once the marble slid back into place, Wolf grinned as he stepped out from his hiding place. He had seen Catie’s anxious glance and knew she had been looking for him. Sorry he wasn’t able to completely allay her fears, he understood how important it was for them to continue by themselves. Still, there was pride for the kids. “I knew Peter had it in him. Hope he brought more than one flashlight. He’s going to need it.” With a secret smile, he headed for the exit of Pirates. The girl’s worried mother would want to know that the kids had made their discovery and that they were safe.
As soon as the security guard walked off, Todd Raven came out of his own hidden corner. He had been tucked away in the dark entrance of a closed shop during this entire time. Knowing where Wolf had been stationed, it had been easy for him to melt out of view and still be able to watch.
Walking swiftly to the bench on the wall, he hesitated as he pulled off the scratchy, irritating disguise. Stuffing the black wig and beard into the nearest potted plant, he stared at the elaborate design of the fountain. As far away as he had been hiding, and with the girl partially blocking his view, he wasn’t exactly sure what the kid had done to open the secret panel.
“Couldn’t be too difficult if the brat figured it out.” He pushed on every square inch of the wall within the general area that had captured Peter’s interest. When it was obvious that his actions weren’t working, he started to look for some kind of hidden lever. Feeling all over the raised design, he found nothing unusual.
Not knowing how long Wolf would be gone, Todd knew that just standing there and staring at the wall wouldn’t work. He had to figure it out and follow those two kids and fast. It was his only chance.
Just as soon as the darkness closed over them, Peter felt an anxious hand grab his leg. They were both still crouched down from crawling into the opening. “Is that you, Catie?”
That earned a chuckle and managed to break the scared mood that had descended over them. “Who else would it be? You have someone else in here that I don’t know about?”
The orange beam of light swung around and illuminated her smiling face. “Yeah, it’s you.” Peter grinned, his own features lost in the gloom, as he handed her the light. “Here, hold this. I have another one in my pack. Always be prepared, you know.”
As he fiddled with the unfamiliar backpack, the light swung away as Catie tried to see what was in the darkness around them. “Hey, I can’t see in my pack. Shine it back over here.”
“Oh, sorry.” The beam lit up the bright red backpack again. “Do you have any idea where this leads?”
“Not exactly. I think there’s a passage off to the left. At least, I think that’s what I saw before you grabbed me. Maybe a staircase?”
“Does it go up or down?” She hoped he would say up.
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